Vehicle theft is a worldwide problem. An automobile can require an investment of a year of personal income. Cars are particularly important in automobile reliant cities such as Los Angeles. When a person""s car is stolen, the car owner can also suffer a host of negative psychological injuries ranging from anxiety, depression, heart attacks and panic attacks. A well-designed automobile anti-theft device can deter car thefts and aid in vehicle recovery.
Traditional car alarms activate a siren or horn when an intruder opens a car door or breaks a window while the alarm is armed. These alarms have become less of a theft deterrent because the frequency of false alarms has conditioned people to ignore them. Car thieves have learned to disable traditional alarms allowing them to steal the car. This has lead to an ever increasing panoply of devices to foil car theft.
Many anti theft devices deactivate the engine. The Winbush Bold Thief Security System (U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,564) disables a stolen car by means of a disabling signal that can be sent from a pager, wristwatch, or cell phone. Chen""s Robbery-Repelling Alarm System (U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,343) also gives the car a voice. Chen""s device includes a taped message that shouts xe2x80x9cHelpxe2x80x9d; or xe2x80x9cWe have been robbedxe2x80x9d; or xe2x80x9carrest the burglar, pleasexe2x80x9d while the ignition coil is deactivated and a phone call is made with a prerecorded message to the proper authorities. Tompkins created a Beeper Controlled Auto Security System (U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,299). The Tompkins alarm system terminates the car""s ignition through a radio or paging signal. It also includes silent homing signal to be received by the police or car owner. The homing signal sounds louder as the stolen car draws closer to the receiver. The Weinblatt Anti-Theft Automobile Security System (U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,901) requires a two-step disabling process. Should a driver find himself being carjacked, he activates a first switch. Unfortunately, reaching for a hidden switch at gunpoint can be dangerous. After the owner is forced out of the car, the hijacker has to enter a code to keep the engine running.
Many car alarms page a person to give notice of a theft. Xiao created the Car Alarm Transmitting and Paging system (U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,506). The Xiao system includes a normal pager that receives notification of car theft. When the car is stolen, the car sends an alarm to the pager. The Byrd Wide Area Wireless System (U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,269) allows a communications link to any one of a fleet of cars to determine the car""s identity and location. Dudley created the Vehicle Alarm System Triggerable Cell Phone Activation Circuit (U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,320). A cell phone integrated with the car""s circuit notifies the owner of the car theft. The cell phone in the car can dial multiple selected numbers to give notice of theft.
Suda created a Pager Vehicle Communication Apparatus (U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,785). The Suda device remotely controls engine starting and stopping, door lock and unlock operations, and other vehicle accessories. The micro controller receives commands from a telephone or pager and sends them to the stored control program. Notably, the CPU can check an RPM meter to allow activation of certain functions only when the car is at a low RPM, such as idle. Unfortunately, engine deactivation may still occur in dangerous situations such as if the vehicle stalls while climbing a hill or if the car is shifted into neutral.
Thus, a car theft deterrent device is desired that is inexpensive to install, can disable the engine safely, is difficult to disable, and does not give false alarms. It would also be desired that the device give notice of a car theft. These features should not hinder the towing of the car should it be necessary to do so.